Dispatchers said the fire broke out Wednesday around 4 p.m. at R.H. Towing, near the intersection of St. James Avenue and Plainfield Road.

A man who lived in a basement apartment was trapped inside the burning building for between five to eight minutes, firefighters said.

The man was unresponsive when firefighters rescued him from the home.

He was flown from Bethesda North Hospital to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center with burns to 80 percent of his body, the fire chief said. He is listed in critical condition.

“He had came up once to say the electric went out and he went back down,” said Holly Hess, an employee of the towing company connected to the apartment. “When they realized there was smoke coming through the walls, they tried to go down and get him, but they couldn’t get the door open.”

Hess and Bob Jennings watched helplessly as firefighters carried their friend from the burning building.

“I see him almost every day,” Jennings said. “Matter of fact, I talked to him a few minutes before the fire broke out. I was downstairs starting to do my laundry, and he was saying he had electrical problems. Apparently, the problem was worse than we realized. It must have been in the wall already.”

The victim’s friends feared a handicap prevented him from escaping the blaze.

“I’m kind of afraid for him,” said Judy Sturgill, an employee of the towing company. “He has had one leg amputated and wasn’t in the best of health.”